The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
Don’t Hire Just Because You’re Panicking
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We've talked a lot about different types of hiring.
Speaker 1:We just recently did an episode here on the Healthy Church Staff podcast about how not to hire when you're desperate, and today, a little bit different take I want to talk about.
Speaker 1:When you're down a staff member and things feel chaotic, it's easy to jump with the first candidate who you think might work. Maybe you're not desperate, but things are just chaotic. They feel like they're reeling out of control. But let me tell you, hiring from a place of panic usually leads to regret, almost always, and today we're going to unpack the signs that you might be hiring out of panic and share some better ways to slow down and think clearly and find the right person not just a warm body to fill that gap. There's a little bit of a difference between panic and desperation. You might think they're the same thing, but we're going to unpack that a little bit today here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Hi, my name is Todd Rhodes. If we've not met, I'm your host right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. All right, we talked about desperation, now let's talk about panic. Do you ever feel like your ministry is on fire? Everything is just a huge fire. Everything's on fire and the only way to save it, the only way to put out the fire, the only way to extinguish the flames is to hire somebody. Because you're just everybody's in over their head, and I get it when the pressure's high and when you're short-staffed that panic and desperation but panic is what we're talking about here today that panic can really push you into hiring somebody who isn't right Just to plug the hole, just to extinguish some of the flames.
Speaker 1:And we're going to talk about why hiring in panic mode. First of all, what it looks like and why it almost never works and what you should do to begin with. All right. So first, how do you know if you're hiring in panic, why we panic in the first place? Actually would be a good place to start. If you feel like things are falling through the cracks, if you feel like your volunteers are burning out, if you feel like people are asking all right, who's in charge of this thing now? If you're exhausted, if you feel overwhelmed, you are probably in full-on panic mode and the impulse, honestly, is natural. There's nothing wrong with feeling that way, because it's just a natural way to feel. Sometimes You're trying to protect your team, you're trying to protect your people and you're trying to protect your sanity. But making a quick hire in this state almost always backfires, okay. So what does panic hiring actually look like? How do you know if you're about ready, or maybe you already did and you're like, oh no, todd, I wish I would have listened to this last week. How do you know what panic hiring actually looks like? You start off.
Speaker 1:I think I mentioned in our previous episode the need to have a list of non-negotiable items on your list, things that you're not going to budge on. It shouldn't be a list of 20 items. That's way too many. You're being way too selective but there should be some things on your list that are just non-negotiable. If you have that list and you find that you're lowering your standards just to get somebody in the door, just to take off some of the pressure, that's what panic hiring looks like.
Speaker 1:Okay, maybe you're overlooking those red flags in the interview, maybe you're rushing the process. Maybe you're skipping steps. Maybe you don't fully vet the references. Maybe you don't do. You normally do, but in this case we just got to get this hire done, so you don't do the background check.
Speaker 1:If you're rushing the process, it could be a panic hire. If you're here, this is really key. If you're hear me on this, if you're hiring somebody for now but you don't have a plan for later, it's probably a panic hire. If you're just thinking, I just I gotta have somebody taught in the next for the next six weeks, or else everybody's going to blow. But you get six weeks under your belt and things are none the better because you've hired somebody for a short term, not for a long-term scenario. All of these decisions usually come with a really big price tag. Turnover could be mistrust, cultural damage, damage will be done, and an empty chair in six months down the road is not something that you need, because you're just going to be repeating the cycle and you're going to need to have to hire again. And if you were panicked now, in six months and you're still in the same situation, you're going to be even more panicked.
Speaker 1:So what's the better way? There's got to be a better way. I always like to. If I'm going to present a problem, I want to at least give you a shot at a solution here. Okay, so I think there is a better way forward. Everything I say has to do with communication. Right, I always say communicate, communicate, because it's that important. You need to clearly communicate with your church and your team about that gap between everything's on fire and what it looks like for everything not to be on fire, and that you can't just make rash decisions because it's going to fan the flames rather than extinguish them. Maybe you can use interim solutions like maybe volunteers or part-time help or maybe some coverage plans. We did another episode go back and listen to it about when you choose not to rehire because you've taken these interim solutions and you've made them permanent. You don't want to do that either, but if there's a way that you can find a key volunteer or hire somebody part-time a limited basis or come up with some kind of coverage plan for the next six weeks, that will take off a little bit of the panic. That is a much better way than just hiring somebody and then having to deal with it afterwards and then use this time to get clarity on what the role really needs.
Speaker 1:Today you got to take a breath and remember urgency and wisdom. They can both coexist. They can both be a part of the same mix and they can coexist at the same time. Waiting for the right person isn't a weakness, it's really leadership. So here's the bottom line for today If you panicked, things are on fire, you're like Todd, I got to do something.
Speaker 1:I got to do something today, even though I know this probably isn't a great long-term decision, I just have to do it. Don't let panic make your hiring decisions. That never, ever ends. I don't want to be talking to you six weeks down the road or six months down the road and you say that fire that I was trying to put out, trying to put out by hiring this person it's now a raging inferno. I don't want that to be the conversation that we have, and it very well could be if you let panic rule the day. Have you ever made a hire you regretted later? Maybe you took a job that you knew you shouldn't take, but you took it and now you regret it. I'd love to hear your story Reach out to me. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom.
Speaker 1:One of the great things I love about being your host here on the podcast is you and me right, you're probably not listening with a group of 50 other people. There are 50 other people in different places listening. This is kind of time that we get to share together, so I love the back and forth that we can have. When you listen to the podcast, you only get to hear, but when you email me, I get to hear back from you, so we get to have that two-way communication. I read every email that you send, so I wish that you would take some time, reply and tell me a little bit about what your experience has been, either in hiring or being hired and in panic mode. Okay, you reach out to me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. All right, that's it for today. We will be right back here tomorrow with another episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Hope you'll join me then. You.
